The Ghosts of Longhorn Caverns

This topic is presented for entertainment purposes (mostly mine). It is not intended as scholarly research or as a final authority on the topic. Please enjoy this article for what it is–free information on a topic of interest.

On my vacation in June, I visited Longhorn Caverns in Burnet, Texas. This is a neat place. The caverns were formed by the cutting action of a river that receded thousands of years ago.

Since then, the caverns have seen lots of action.

The Comanche Indians first used the caverns. They found it about 400 years before anyone else did.

During the Civil War, the caverns were used as a stronghold where gunpowder was manufactured. The gunpowder was made from bat guano.

The outlaw Sam Bass is believed to have used the caverns as a hideout. Some legends even claim there’s a huge fortune hidden down there.

During Prohibition, the main cavern was used as a speakeasy and dance hall.

The video below shows the interior of the Longhorn Caverns. Pay close attention to what you see from 1:45 to 1:56. We’re going to talk about that building later.

You didn’t come here for a history lesson, though. You came here for a hair-raising ghost story. Rumor has it Longhorn Caverns is haunted.

Reports include poltergeist activity, hearing voices and laughter, and being physically touched. A lady dressed in white victorian era clothing has been seen wandering all over the park–both above and below ground. Several apparitions of Native Americans have been seen.

Amanda Foster, Director and Founder of the Austin Paranormal Group, graciously agreed to allow me to share the videos of her group’s investigation. Both videos are short. What you’re supposed to hear is explained on the screen.

Note on the videos: they are no longer on You Tube for reasons I do not know. I have no clue where (or if) they can be found. I hated to take this section out of the article, since Amanda Foster was helpful to me in the writing of this article, but I saw no reason not to remove the video links since they no longer worked.

The team who took these videos had rocks thrown at their request, felt cold drafts where there were no openings, were touched, and heard…voices.

Longhorn Caverns is made of limestone. Amanda Foster shared a theory regarding limestone and ghosts. She said limestone is thought to hold psychic energy. It is possible ghosts gravitate to it because they can more easily interact with people near limestone.

This is a beautiful building. My husband and I had half an hour before our tour of the caverns began. We thought we’d get some good pictures inside the building.

The interior of this building had a dead, empty pressure to it. Each step I took was accompanied by the feeling that there was something coiled, waiting to jump out at me. Heaviness grew in the air and in my chest. It was an effort to breathe. Utter quiet and still hung over everything.

I told my husband I couldn’t be in there anymore. He said he felt the same, but he wanted to get one more picture. Though I planned to go outside, I sat down in this room on this bench.

A few minutes later, my husband joined me. Despite our earlier plan to leave, we sat on that bench. We were unable to get up and get out. It felt as though all the energy was being siphoned out of me. Finally, we did get up and leave, but it was an effort.

On impulse, I encouraged my husband to take a picture of these windows. The craftsmanship of this building is truly amazing, no matter how creepy a place it was.

When we got home and uploaded the pictures onto my husband’s computer, this is what we saw. Look carefully at the windows. It wasn’t a cloudy day.

It’s a given that I have a good imagination. Heck, I write fiction. Something was weird about that place, though. Maybe it was just a spirit who liked the look of us and wanted to make contact. Maybe it was a brush with someone we’d known in a previous life. We’ll never know.

Special thanks to Amanda Foster of the Austin Paranormal Group for allowing me to share her materials and for patiently answering my questions.

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